(Part 2) Best cycling books according to redditors
We found 559 Reddit comments discussing the best cycling books. We ranked the 140 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
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B E G I N N E R
Kudos on embarking on a new pursuit! Enjoy all the possibilities that await you in the Great Big World of cycling. Ride often, enjoy yourself. Look for like-minded people who inspire you, and scenic and challenging routes to increase your motivation and stamina. If you're interested in a more rigorous development of your skills, consider one of the many available books on the topic, sign up for an indoor trainer based workout program, or pit your mettle against other cyclists in your area.
Now go ride!
Wow. You just jumped the shark.
> You first said that no Minnesota law requires you to ride as far to the right as practicable, which is the word I used first
No, the word you used is "possible," he pointed out the law actually said "practicable." You're trying to rewrite history.
> then you said that the reason you ride where you do is because no law says you can't
I don't see this statement anywhere. Actually, he explicitly says the conditions under the law where cyclists are allowed to ride where they need to be safe, an explicit acknowledgement of the rights granted by the law.
> every "safer cycling guide" recommends (and you still haven't provided a single source for your claim)
Google it yourself. But I provided you one instead. Tell me where you live and I bet I can find similar guidelines there. See also the book Effective Cycling, a whole book dedicated to the subject.
I did the huayhuash unguided and found it to be pretty easy. Obviously you end up with a large backpack but most hostels in Huaraz will let you leave some stuff there during a trek and organize transpo for you. Just make sure to acclimatize plenty in and around Huaraz before you go. It’s a good opportunity to do laguna 69 and churup and a few other hikes in the area that are fantastic. Here’s the guidebook I used
Start racing now! You won't be trained and you won't win, but going to races is exciting and you can get a feel for whether this is something you want to invest a large amount of time in this winter. You don't want to get to your first race next year after a huge volume of suffering and figure out you just don't like racing that much. In the meantime, you'll meet other racers in your area and maybe even some teams who are looking for new members. If you're worried about crashing in a crit, give the pack a wide berth coming around corners or just enter a road race instead.
Also, pick up a book on training. I personally like Joe Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible but there are tons of different books and programs out there.
Training and Racing with a Power Meter and Cyclist's Training Bible are probably the closest two. Also check out Reading the Race for strategy tips and race craft.
Not an endorsement for TP but this offers some help to get started with PM training and it is free so read up on it a bit: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/how-to-start-training-with-power-ebook
Also I believe Joe Friel has an excellent book and he tends to lay things out in an easy to read and understand way (again not an endorsement): https://www.amazon.com/Power-Meter-Handbook-Cyclists-Triathletes/dp/1934030953
I dunno man. If you're racing for glory, I think you'll find that winning at your local series every now and then doesn't really bring it. If you're racing to race bikes, well, then you are in for a treat whether you are winning or not.
Motivation is complicated. Some people are motivated by progress. Some need to win. Others are motivated by a fear of losing. If you really want to enjoy this hobby and you're finding it difficult, I'd suggest talking to a sports psychologist and/or maybe picking up a book like [The Brave Athlete](https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Athlete-Calm-Down-Occasion/dp/1937715736/ref=pd_cp_14_2). I ride with a lot of people who simply don't train enough to win, but they love racing. Maybe if they can find joy in racing and competing, you can too. :)
It's a real book, not an e-book, but Racing Tactics for Cyclists is a fantastic book for helping to learn strategy and tactics. it's written in an easy-to-follow conversational tone, not too heavy, with lots of interesting stories an anecdotes from pro racing mixed in there. Parts of it get a little more involved than you'll see in amateur racing, but reading that book has also made watching pro racing more interesting because I can see why certain moves are being made.
some links:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/
https://www.adventurecycling.org/
http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.com/
https://www.rivbike.com/pages/touring-camping
https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Cycle-Touring-Handbook-Worldwide-Trailblazer/dp/190586468X/
Take some short tours, overnight or a few days. Everybody has a different approach. You can go very cheap or very expensive. Either way you'll end up improvising to solve unexpected problems!
Give the Time Crunch method a shot. It's targeted at people with only 6-8 hours per week. Though I train a bit more than that now, I'm happy with the results going through the program myself.
Have you read this book? It's pretty good...
The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling: Build the Strength, Skills, and Confidence to Ride as Far as You Want
by Edmund R. Burke (Author), Ed Pavelka
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Long-Distance-Cycling-Confidence/dp/1579541992/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1539801941&sr=8-2&keywords=long+distance+cycling&dpID=61M4IYE2iWL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Acadia National Park in Maine has the best combination of bicycling, paddling, and hiking that I know of on the east coast.
And Bar Harbor has a certain amount of culture/food. Make sure to get popovers at Jordan Pond House.
A great guide to Acadia trails and paddles is AMC Discover Acadia National Park:
https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Acadia-National-Park-Paddling/dp/1934028290/
Alternatively, the White Mountain National Forest has a network of huts about a day's hike apart. The huts are not cheap, but they offer breakfast and dinner, so you only have to carry lunch, water, and snacks.
I'm not aware of any cliff diving on the US east coast. We don't tend to have that kind of geography here (I could be wrong?).
If you want to learn more about road cycling and racing, try Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer.
Fr a specific race, there's Slaying The Badger, which is about to be presented as an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary this week.
A Dog in a Hat is the story of an Amrican rider's experiences on the European circuit back when Americans were just starting to get into cycling.
Rough Ride is Paul Kimmage's account of riding in the peloton and the reality of riding. It helped turn him into persona non grata in the cycling world for many years.
And Team 7-Eleven tells the story of the creation of the first big American cycling team.
FYI - All of Acadia is 100% day hiking. There isn't really backpacking to be done in the park. I don't even think there are backcountry camping sites.
5-7 days is a lot of time in the park, I wish I had that much time (I had 3 days when I went). I find that none of the trails are particularly strenuous, none of the mountains are that high, views are still sublime throughout the park. It may be worth it to get a guidebook ($20 is a cheap expense compared to a long trip). I got this one which has pretty much every hike in the park.
Utilize Acadia On My Mind and Joe's Guide to ANP (Citrusmilo is the domain). Great resources.
This was posted a few days back. I commented there, too. Try /r/maine (use the search) as well.
Less crowded, great views - Acadia Mountain. A lot of the western half of the island is ignored by tourists. Take advantage of that by spending a day or two exploring that part.
I have this book. My dream of bicycle touring died when I sold my bike, you can have it if you are willing to pay for shipping. The first part might be of interest to you, it goes through the logistics of touring and gear you might need. The second part is route plannings, and third is just tales from the dudes experience.
Get a bike, use platform pedals, and keep your cadence above 70 rpm.
If you have access to a gym, the standard rehab exercise seems to leg extensions, which will also strengthen your quads, something you will use quite a bit on the bike.
If you can borrow or leaf through The Bible, you'll find quite a bit.
If you're up for it, squats and deadlifts will hit all the muscles you need.
I'd definitely talk to a physical therapist or trainer about setting up a strength program so you don't over do it and reinjure the knee, though.
The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is one of my favorites.
This book is pretty old-school but amazing none the less:
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Road-Racing-Complete-Competition/dp/0941950077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462602033&sr=1-1&keywords=cycling+training+eddie
What are you training for? Are you considering racing? Either way, this book is truly my bible, I've built my training schedules for the last two years off of it. It'll tell you everything you need to know about bike training.
http://www.amazon.com/Cyclists-Training-Bible-Joe-Friel/dp/1931382212
There's a book on tactics from Chris Horner? How do I not own this already interrobang?!
Quick link to amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004089TB4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
At 230 lbs you are still a bit large for a even for a track cyclist.
Drinking coffee before rides and drinking water with nuun tablets may help you maintain a large mileage at a caloric deficit.
Personally, I have great difficulty maintaining in my lower body strength while cycling (400-500 miles per week).
I would recommend getting The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel. He does a great job of describing periodization and how to incorporate strength training into your program.
I had great experience with the book The Brave Athlete which lays out 12 common mental barriers endurance athletes face and common, researched backed, solutions to those barriers. It's an entertaining and good read if you want to see if formal sports psychology is right for you!
Here, I have nothing to add to the topic, so I'll upvote you and take the downvote for my offtopic comment.
I don't read books, but my fiancée quite enjoyed The Bike Snob on her Kindle. A year or so after she read it, I started biking, and decided to read it. That and its sequel, The Enlightened Cyclist, are both rather fun to read. They're not novels, and you might not agree with his views, but I find his writing style engaging and the topic interesting.
But they are not novels, they are akin to a nonfiction blog that someone turned into a book. This is not far from the truth.
Here's a great $14 book to guide you.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-Long-Distance-Cycling/dp/1579541992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335228609&sr=8-1
I read Team 7-Eleven. I liked it.
Thanks for the tip, I'll check them.
Here is an enjoyable book about biking in general http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004089TB4
The book Distance Cycling has various century (and longer rides) training programs. I think it has an 8-week and a 15-week version.
Check your local library.
The information that Nerdlinger gave is definitely substantial for this ride, and if you decide to become more serious about cycling you should check out the cyclist's training bible.
The best way to think of it is this, you can judge your fitness based on a few things: Speed, Heart rate, or watts.
Speed is the simpliest(I'm getting faster! I'm not getting faster.) but it can be effected by a lot; wind, terrain, drafting, aerodynamics, ect.
Heart rate is the next when used with speed(I'm getting faster and my heart rate isn't exploding!) but like speed it can be effected by alot too. Are you sick today, not rested, to much caffeine, along with all the things effecting speed. There is also a lag between effort and heart rate(If you do a 30sec or less effort your heartrate will only see a change near the end or after.
A power meter or watts is the most effective. In short if you are producing more watts, you will be going faster, longer or both. And the things that effect speed does not effect watts. And unlike Heartrate there is little to no lag since it is measuring the effort you are doing.
I'd suggest reading Joel Friel has some great books about using power meters: Training and Racing with a power meter or Powermeter Handbook
For adventure cycling, this is get the Trailblazer guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Cycle-Touring-Handbook-Worldwide-Trailblazer/dp/190586468X
> my initial idea was doing Xi'an to Shanghai, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding any documented cases of people doing that particular route, which makes me a bit nervous.
That's because it is a terrible idea. The route is 90% flat with very little scenery. You will be dealing with heavy traffic especially truckers too cheap to use the expressway. The region around Zhengzhou is heavily polluted. All in all it would not be a pleasant experience.
>Any ideas?
http://qixing.8264.com/
Open in chrome, right click, select Translate to English.
Most Chinese adventure cycling routes point towards Lhasa. There is the Yunnan Tibet road G214 and the Sichuan Tibet road G318, G317. As a foreigner you can not enter TAR without an expansive permit. So you can do about half of the route. Besides that, Xinjiang is also popular G312, G314.
Most Chinese cyclists will choose a National Road 国道. Since in remote locations, this will be the highest grade road outside of an Expressway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Highways
There will be a lot of elevation changes along the way, so you will need to be reasonably fit.
As a rule of thumb, if you have never done long distance cycling, it would be better to start in your home country.
You need to read the Eddie B. book - http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Road-Racing-Complete-Competition/dp/0941950077
Talk of eating horsemeat.
One I personally subscribe to is legwarmers below 70 degrees. Keeps the knees from getting crispy.
Get a copy of this book. It includes most of the trails recommended in this thread.
Someone recommended this book to me recently in the /r/MTB subreddit http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Biking-Colorados-Front-Range/dp/B005CDVFFY . I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but it may be worth the look. Also, second on BMA for Boulder. I wish Fort Collins had a similar resource.
Get the book Just Ride from your library as it discusses the equipment needed for using a bike to commute. It also has a lot great information for someone new to commuting by bike. It will help keep your budget under control and keep you from getting a wanna be racer bike that wont last.
Yes, quite good. However, save your "powder" for the last prime. Keep in mind the attack is kind of long. You want to be very close to the front of the sprint, THEN attack, hard. Do not wait for the field to start coasting. We all know how the pace drops off after a prime. Go before for that. Most should be busy sucking a wheel to see you go.
Get this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Tactics-Cyclists-Thomas-Prehn/dp/1931382301/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479749134&sr=8-1&keywords=thomas+prehn+cycling+book
The skill I find most useful but non-intuitive is to be able to turn your head over your left shoulder and assess whether it is safe to merge left, for example to get around an obstacle or to prepare for a left turn. I would practice this a lot.
Many posters here mention taking the lane, and other maneuvers. This is part of a school of thought that is both discredited and very useful known as Vehicular Cycling. The bible of Vehicular Cycling is a book called Effective Cycling by John Forester.
Vehicular cycling more or less holds that since most bicycle crashes happen as a part of crossing or turning at intersections, bike lanes make cycling less safe because they introduce more places of potential conflict between bikes and other vehicles. Thus cycling is safest when bicycles act as any other vehicle, for example taking the lane and riding with other traffic.
It is discredited because we now know that cycling becomes safer the more cyclists there are, so that motorists become used to encountering cyclists. The best way to get more cyclists is to have cycling infrastructure like bike lanes. This outweighs the benefit of reducing the points of conflict. (It's also discredited because vehicular cycling presumes that the principles of traffic engineering are good to begin with, but they're profoundly not.)
But if you talk to most experienced urban cyclists, including those who strongly advocate for bike lanes, you'll find that on a personal level most follow the vehicular cycling model. So it's good to familiarize one's self with it.
All the answers you need are here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Bikers-Training-Bible/dp/1884737714
As /u/milliken says, having a structured training plan is definitely beneficial. I'm just now starting to develop my plan as I get back into racing after a long layoff, and I've found this book indispensable.
FWIW, I also recommend:
It depends on if I'm in a base phase, a build phase, or if it's during the race season. Also depends on what type of fitness I'm trying to build.
If I was you I would probably go for something like 3x12min w/ 5 min rest between intervals at about 85-94% of threshold.
I would suggest spending a little money on some quality materials from experts who know what they're talking about and then figuring out what works best for you.
A good place to start would be a book like the Time Crunched Cyclist, https://www.amazon.com/Time-Crunched-Cyclist-Race-Winning-Fitness-Athlete/dp/1937715507/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=S2HW84QKST567NVKRWP0
It's an awesome book, fun to read. Another one I would definitely recommend is Racing Tactics for Cyclists, after you read "Roadie'.
Prioritizing your end goals with regards to cycling and lifting can help you figure balance:
Searching through /r/velo, /r/velodrome and /r/bicycling may help you more.
I just bought Wendler 5/3/1/ after doing some Googling for a 2-day program to allow for more recovery time between the gym and training rides.
You can find said options listed from the book here: https://www.t-nation.com/training/effective-training-for-busy-men. I can't say if this is optimal for you our anyone else, but information is free.
I also ordered a copy of The Time Crunched Cyclist because training for six intense hours a week sounds great.
Alternatively, look into track cycling if you want to focus on gym performance. http://upupup.aboc.com.au
Make sure you eat and sleep enough!! That is paramount.
Hi!
We had a tight acclimatization schedule (about 5 days total before day 1), so we took Diamox. We also have experience trekking over 10,000 feet (PCT thru hike and lots of climbing volcanos in the Pacific Northwest) and knew that we generally handle altitude well as long as we stay hydrated. I did feel generally tired, and the second day of the trip I just felt bad (no nausea or headache, just tired and irritable) so we rested that afternoon and I felt better later. But overall, it didn’t hinder our trip.
Logistics:
We went without a guide but many people choose to use local guides and arrieros (mule packers). Though I think guided trips don’t typically take this route. Guided trips aren’t our thing, and they’re not required, so we chose to go without.
We flew to Lima, then took a night bus to Huaraz after a few days acclimatizing in Cusco and Machu Picchu. Then we did an acclimatization hike outside of Huaraz. Transportation is very cheap, and Huaraz is a fun base camp city.
Finally on the first morning of the trip we took two buses to a village called Pocpa. Then we walked a road to the beginning of the trek. Most people spend the first night at the campsite at the beginning of the trek. We actually were able to hitchhike with mining trucks so it took us until around 12:30 pm to get to the start of the trail. We chose to eat lunch and keep moving.
Like I mentioned, we were able to finish the trail in 8 days. I wouldn’t have wanted to move any faster than we did.
There were 3 other people doing the trip without a guide at the same pace as us. There were a few other groups that were large and guided. But camp never felt terribly crowded.
Overall it was 8 days of jaw-dropping hugeness and feeling like I was on another planet. The landscape makes you feel tiny. There are lots of challenging alternate routes that require routefinding and map reading skills. We loved these routes compared to the mule route.
My pack baseweight is about 14 lbs right now. I’d say total weight was about 35 lbs with food and water. We didn’t measure though.
We carried enough food for 7 days and then resupplied in Huallapa, a town on day 6. It wasn’t much of a town. We were there at the end of hiking season so most places were closed. There was very little lightweight hiking food, and while our guidebook said there was a restaurant, we ended up asking the only people we met in town besides the innkeeper if they would make us food and they served us eggs, rice and potatoes in their backyard for about $3 per person. I was glad we overpacked food.
A couple more things: the route passes through around 7 communities land, and you pay a fee to each community to use their land and camp. It cost about $3-10 USD per community.
Also, our guidebook can provide much better info than I can. Here it is.
If all this advice doesn't work, try reading this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Brave-Athlete-Calm-Down-Occasion/dp/1937715736/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=60877193453&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiYLdhfa55AIVXSCtBh2ocgTLEAAYAyAAEgLyvfD_BwE&hvadid=309992852331&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9001330&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t3&hvqmt=b&hvrand=14594267459115017693&hvtargid=kwd-298922396582&hydadcr=25069_9637241&keywords=the+brave+athlete&qid=1567694758&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Reading "Distance cycling" by coach John Hughes helped me a lot when I started longer rides:
https://www.amazon.com/Distance-Cycling-John-Hughes/dp/0736089241
cool. Yep I probably camped 75% / Warm Showers or strangers I met 20% / Motel or hostel 5%.
WS is definitely a good way to meet people and get tips on the road ahead. Good luck with your preparations - definitely buy this book for your coastal stretch, it maps out every day from Vancouver to the Mexican border and is generally still up to date: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001C36XSW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Is this your first year of racing? If so, just ride a lot. If not, pick up the bible before worrying about base/build/taper/race periodization
I'm reading Effective Cycling by John Forester right now. It's really helpful to teach you how you should be riding with the other uses of roadways (motorists). Forester has experience with cycling over the decades, and knows the legal reasons behind the often inferior cycling infrastructure in the US. It also has useful fix-it instructions.
Otherwise, I picked up Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Bicycling for pennies at a book sale, and while I haven't read it all the way yet, it has some good bike-fit tips.
Just Ride by Grant Petersen. Not specifically about bike commuting, but a good read.
Roads Were Not Built For Cars by Carlton Reid. Talks about the history of bicycles and their impetus for developing national road systems.
Effective Cycling by John Forester. Considered controversial by some in the Cycling community. Right or wrong, I think anyone trying to study city cycling should be familiar with his work.
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Road-Racing-Complete-Competition/dp/0941950077#
This was my bible for 2 years.
Boy racer by Mark Cavendish
Team 7-11 by Jeff Drake http://www.amazon.ca/Team-7-Eleven-Unsung-American-Cyclists/dp/1934030538/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345480001&sr=1-1
Olympic Gangster by Matt Rendell http://www.amazon.ca/Olympic-Gangster-Beyaert-Cycling-Champion/dp/1845965930/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345480045&sr=1-1
I'd recommend you to read "Just Ride" by Grant Petersen. Full of (slightly controversial) wisdom, among other, a lot of it about "racer" traits implied to the rest of us cyclists. Weight craze being one of them.
Yeah, I had the same problem when I bought mine. It hurt my back to ride it. I think this is one of the places that racing culture has influenced recreational and utilitarian riding. The forward position is to cut wind and get a full extension of the leg when peddling to fully maximize your speed potential...Which just doesn't matter when you're not a racer.
I fixed my bike by swapping out the short downward angle quill stem with a taller, more upright angle, bought fixie bmx style riser bars that slightly slope backwards and a wider, padded seat. I'm not the fastest rider on the road, but I'm not the slowest either. It doesn't take me any longer to get to work now than it did with the racing style setup and it's a much, much comfier ride. More importantly, I can spend way more time in the saddle, which makes me a stronger, better rider since I'm not in constant pain from the bike beating me up.
This book is what tuned me into racing's impact on cycling as a sport. It's a good read:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0074QGFES/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o09?ie=UTF8&psc=1